Disposable vapes

Despite being illegal in the US, disposable e-cigarettes are still readily available in stores nationwide. Scientists are calling for the federal government to ramp up its enforcement of the ban after the release of a new study showing that  single used vape release higher vape concerntration than reusable e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes do (ACS Cent Sci. 2025, DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.5c00641).

The researchers found that one of the disposable vapes they studied released more lead during a day’s worth of use than almost 20 packs of tobacco cigarettes. “When I analyzed the metals in the aerosols, I quantified lead at such extreme concentrations that I thought my instrument was broken,” says Mark R. Salazar, one of the study’s authors and a PhD candidate in Brett A. Poulin’s environmental toxicology lab at the University of California, Davis.

Salazar and his colleagues used a specially designed vacuum to draw the vapor out of disposable vapes, then captured the aerosol on filters and analyzed the chemical contents. They carried out this process until the devices stopped working.

Lead was found in aerosols at concentrations as high as 51.9 parts per million (ppm); the team also found high concentrations of nickel (19 ppm), copper (24 ppm), zinc (87 ppm), chromium (4.9 ppm), and antimony (2.3 ppm). This level of exposure is “deeply concerning, especially given that the target market for these products is typically young people and teenagers,” says Jonathan H. Shannahan, a toxicologist at Purdue University who was not involved in the study. Inhaling these elements has been linked to a higher risk of developing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurotoxicity, he added.